Typically, Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) systems are accessed by dialing a local telephone number, an “800” toll-free telephone number, or a “900” pay-to-dial telephone number. Generally, IVR systems are comprised of Automatic Call Distributors (“ACDs”) and Voice Response Units (“VRUs”). The function of the ACD is to route high volume inbound telephone calls to the appropriate destinations (i.e., the proper VRU or the proper agent depending on the minimum expected delay and the longest available agent) and to provide a general structure for managing the customer premises telephone equipment (“CPE”). Specifically, the ACD queues incoming telephone calls to provide a user of the IVR system access to the appropriate first-available destination. The ACD is also capable of playing recorded messages, providing simple prompts, and customized call handling based on call volume or time of day transfer.
The VRU determines the service or information desired by a caller based on information provided by the caller. Callers access information by selecting voice menu prompt options from the voice menus generated by the VRU. Based on the responses received, the VRU transmits the requested information, further prompts the caller for additional menu selections, or transfers the caller to a live agent.
In general, when a caller dials the telephone number associated with the desired IVR system, the inbound telephone call is answered by the caller's local exchange carrier (“LEC”) switch. The LEC switch may route a call directly or transfer the call to an inter-exchange carrier for routing.
After the inbound telephone call is routed to the appropriate inter-exchange carrier, the inbound telephone call is routed to an ACD, VRU, or live agent. At this stage, prompt menus may be provided to the caller to determine the function of the system required by the caller. The prompt menu may consist of an informational prompt or may consist of voice instructions directing the caller to enter information using the caller's touch-tone telephone keypad. In the past, the caller was limited to entering information utilizing the caller's telephone keypad to produce Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (“DTMF”) tones which were interpreted by a tone decoder located in the IVR system. However, the improvement in speech recognition technology in recent years has allowed IVR systems to utilize spoken responses by callers. The spoken responses are received and interpreted by speech recognition software located in the IVR system.
The simplest IVR systems allow a caller to retrieve information about specific topics. For example, a caller may dial an automated weather service to access the current weather conditions in a particular area. The inbound telephone call is received from the inter-exchange carrier by an ACD which provides an introductory message prompt to the caller and routes the inbound telephone call to the appropriate VRU. However, if no VRUs are available, the caller is placed in a temporary queue to await the next available VRU. The VRU provides the caller with a voice prompt menu directing the caller to enter information related to the caller's query. This may be represented by a caller entering a desired city, a zip code, etc. The automated weather service then accesses a national weather database or other similar source to provide the requested weather information to the caller.
As another example, a caller may dial a telephone number associated with a movie schedule IVR to inquire about the movie schedule at a particular movie theatre. In this example, after the proper inter-exchange carrier has been determined by the LEC, the inbound telephone call is transferred directly to a VRU. The VRU directs the caller to enter a zip code or other similar information indicating the desired location such as a city, zip code, etc. The movie schedule IVR queries a movie theatre database or other such database to determine the movie theatres around the caller-entered location. Utilizing the results of the query, the movie schedule IVR directs the caller to choose the desired movie theatre from a voice prompt menu. After the caller chooses the desired movie theatre, the caller is provided the times and listings of all movies playing at the selected movie theatre.
Alternatively, the VRU may direct the caller to enter the name of the movie utilizing the letters associated with each button on the caller's telephone keypad. After the movie selection is made, the movie schedule IVR system directs the caller to enter the desired location of the movie utilizing such information as a city, zip code, etc. Based on the inputted information, the movie schedule IVR system accesses a movie schedule database to determine if the selected movie is playing in the selected location. The movie schedule IVR system then directs the caller to select options from a movie theatre voice prompt menu formed from the results of the movie schedule database query. After the caller makes a selection from the movie theatre voice prompt menu, the caller is provided the times that the selected movie is playing at the selected movie theatre.
One industry which utilizes IVR systems extensively is the airline industry. Historically, the airline industry has used IVR systems for many applications including customer service, automated flight information, automated reservations, and automated frequent flyer account maintenance. Typically, the customer service IVR systems utilized in the airline industry comprise ACDs, VRUs, and live agents and are typically accessed via an “800” toll-free telephone number. Generally, an airline customer service IVR system greets an inbound telephone call with an introductory voice prompt and provides the caller with a voice prompt menu. Typically, the voice prompt menu consists of options which allow the software to properly route the call (e.g., the call to be transferred to a live agent or another IVR system, such as a flight information IVR system). In this manner, customer service IVR systems function as a “front-end” to the other IVR systems (e.g., reservations, flight information, etc.) provided by the airline.
An automated flight information IVR system is typically comprised of ACDs and VRUs and is accessed via an “800” toll free telephone number. Generally, the ACDs receive the inbound telephone calls from the inter-exchange carrier and route the calls to the appropriate ACD, which, in turn, routes the inbound telephone call to the appropriate VRU. Each VRU in an automated flight information IVR system often contains the same programming and serves the same function. The VRU greets the caller with a voice prompt and directs the caller to enter information related to the desired flight. The information may include a flight number, date of departure/arrival, time of departure/arrival, etc. Utilizing this information, the VRU queries a flight information database and provides the requested flight information to the caller. Many third-party entities maintain real-time flight information databases which may be utilized with a flight information IVR system. However, the flight information IVR system may contain its own real-time flight information database.
The reservations IVR systems typically employed in the airline industry are accessed via an “800” toll-free telephone number and consist of ACDs and VRUs. Generally, the reservations IVR systems gather itinerary data from a caller and then transfer the caller to a live reservations agent. For example, an international reservations IVR system for an airline may direct the caller to provide information about the caller's desired itinerary. The requested information may include the desired departure city, desired arrival city, desired departure date, desired arrival date, desired departure time, desired arrival time, class of service (i.e., economy class, business class, first class, etc.), seating preference, etc. The reservations IVR system may utilize caller's vocal responses or caller-entered DTMF tones produced by the caller's keypad.
Once the caller has entered the requisite information in response to the international reservations IVR system's voice prompt menus, the caller-entered itinerary information may be transferred to a live reservations agent via a “screen pop.” Screen-pop is a common method known in the art for transferring caller-entered itinerary information to a live reservations agent. The reservations agent then utilizes the transferred caller itinerary information to search a flight database accessible from the reservation agent's computer terminal. Utilizing the results of the flight information database query, the reservations agent provides the caller a few possible flight itineraries and the system instructs the caller to select from the itineraries presented. If a caller chooses to select one of the presented flight itineraries, the reservation agent obtains credit card information or other payment information from the caller and completes the caller's requested transaction.
Alternatively, instead of transferring the gathered caller information to a reservations agent, the reservations IVR system may access a flight information database and provide the caller with a voice prompt menu listing flight itineraries which closely match the caller's requested itinerary. The caller may then choose the desired flight itinerary from the voice prompt menu. Based on this input, the reservations IVR system queries the caller for payment information, such as a credit card number and expiration date. The system verifies the caller's credit card information and then completes the caller's transaction for the requested itinerary. By utilizing this system instead of a live reservations agent to process the caller's requested itinerary and verify the caller's credit card information, the amount of time required by live reservations agents to assist callers is reduced. This lowers operating costs for the airline since less reservations agents must be employed.
Many travel organizations also operate and maintain frequent flyer IVR systems which allow a caller to perform frequent flyer account maintenance. Generally, frequent flyer IVR systems require authentication for use of the system. For example, the frequent flyer IVR system may require that the caller enter the caller's frequent flyer number and associated PIN. Other authentication information or combinations of authentication information such as a social security number, home telephone number, birth date, zip code, etc., may also be utilized by the frequent flyer IVR system to authenticate a caller. After the frequent flyer IVR system authenticates a caller, the caller is provided with a voice prompt menu providing a series of account maintenance options. The voice prompt menu may consist of options allowing a caller to inquire about the amount of frequent flyer miles in a caller's account, allow the caller to change the caller's authentication information, allow the caller to check on the status of reservations made utilizing frequent flyer miles, etc. Frequent flyer information IVR systems currently utilized allow a caller to choose options from voice prompt menus or enter information utilizing vocal responses or the caller's keypad to produce DTMF tones.